Tag Archives: Diplomat Hotel

In line with our Halloween spookfest, what better way to scare ourselves than to go on a visit to the ultimate creepy place: Diplomat Hotel. Though this place is truly beautiful, VERY rich in history…is coupled with a ton of ghost stories. We were hopefuls taking pictures everywhere hoping to catch something on cam…or not.

It used to be a seminary and vacation house until the Japanese occupied it. It was during this time that apparently a lot of priests and nuns were beheaded here thus explaining the sightings of some headless apparitions in the building….we didn’t really see anything, but I haven’t done a thorough search in my files just yet…I think I’d be too chicken anyway if I captured anything.

I was able to find a short history on the place according to the Baguio History site called cityofpines.com

“The Dominican Order in the Philippines decided in May 1911 to construct a vacation house on top of what was later called the Dominican Hill. It was a 17-hectare property the Dominicans acquired from the previous American owners. Construction work was believed to have started in 1913 under Fr. Roque Ruano and the building was inaugurated about two years later on May 23, 1915. To take advantage of tax exemptions, a school called Collegio del Santissimo Rosario was opened in June 1915 but due to the very small enrollment, the school closed two years later and the building was reverted back to the original plan of setting up a vacation house.

During the 2nd World War, Dominican Hill was occupied by refugees fleeing from the Japanese Army Liberation Forces. Later the Japanese forces bombed the refugees out which resulted in extensive damages to the main structure and the surrounding area. Reconstruction work started in 1947 and was completed in about a year.